


what comes next?

by BinchJuice



Series: when all is said and done [1]
Category: Hunter X Hunter
Genre: Not A Fix-It, Not sure which, Post-Canon, but a start - Freeform, but not a lot cuz i am constantly at a loss of how to write romance, hints of leopika, in some fuckin timeline
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-24
Updated: 2020-11-24
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:46:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27691604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BinchJuice/pseuds/BinchJuice
Summary: With his quest of revenge finally over, Kurapika is at a loss of what to do with his life.
Series: when all is said and done [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2195919
Kudos: 6





	what comes next?

Kurapika’s arms burned and he could feel his body sag with exhaustion. But it didn’t matter, he thought as he continued shoveling in the final hole. He’d been exhausted for years now so it wasn’t like it made much of a difference now. Sometimes it felt like there’d never been a time when he didn’t feel tired down to his very bones. Logically, he knew that wasn’t true, but his childhood with Pairo felt like it belonged to a different person entirely. 

It was almost as if someone had given Kurapika their memories of a happy childhood to make up for all the pain. It didn’t help, but whoever it was would have had good intentions if all his happy memories playing with Pairo were truly not his. He had to believe that his happy memories weren’t originally meant to inflict pain upon him.

With shaking arms, he flattened the top of the soil and let the shovel fall to the ground. He was done. It had taken him well over a decade, but his quest was finally over. Pairo, and his parents, and even the village elder could finally be at peace. Kurapika said one last prayer, and then he trudged back to the village he was staying at. 

What was he supposed to do now? Little 14-year old Kurapika had never planned beyond his revenge. 17-year old Kurapika had honestly been planning to die once he’d finished. Now, 27-year old Kurapika just felt numb, and empty. It was honestly a miracle he was still alive, but a miracle for who? He hadn’t spoken to Gon or Killua in years and he’d fallen out of contact with Melody. The only one who still called him was Leorio, and Kurapika still wasn’t sure why he still bothered to do so.

As if there was anything more important than his goal. Nothing had been more important. There was no point in planning for after when there were more pressing matters at hand. Kurapika chuckled softly. More fool him, now there was no plan, the timeline had run out and he wasn’t sure he had the will to continue it. So instead he stared down at the ground where all of his brethren lay. He took a deep breath in, released it in a hiss, and did it again. The sun was rising now, he might as well head back to the nearest village. Sleep could be the first item on his new to-do list. Specifically sleep in a bed.

It took him most of the day to head back, his cellphone giving a perfunctory beep once it regained signal. Then, not even a few seconds later, it began to ring. Out of habit, Kurapika pulled it from his pocket and looked at the caller ID.

_LEORIO_

Normally he would’ve just let the call go to voicemail, giving himself some random task he had to do, but now he truly had no excuse to pick up Leorio’s calls. So on impulse, he pressed accept and held the phone up to his ear.

_“Wait, Kurapika? Shit, did you actually pick up?”_

He suddenly couldn’t speak, it had just been so _long_.

_“Kurapika, you bastard, why would you accept the call and not even talk?! Answer me, dammit!”_

“... Hello, Leorio.” Kurapika said quietly. He could feel his hands start to shake, and not from all the digging he’d done. Then Leorio was off, alternating between berating Kurapika within an inch of his life, and talking his ear off. Kurapika just let the man’s voice wash over him as he returned to his motel room and flopped down on the bed. 

_“Are you even listening to me?”_

“Yes,” of course he was. This was why he never picked up, he could lose hours to this man as easy as breathing.

 _“Jesus, you sound like shit, Kurapika.”_ And Leorio’s judgemental tone startled a snort out of Kurapika. 

“That’s not exactly a surprise.” He mumbled back. He grinned at the bark of laughter on the other end. 

_“Why did you decide to pick up now?”_

And the grin wiped clean off. “... I’ve been busy.” Kurapika said, and it was true enough to be a convenient enough excuse. Between all the searching and delegating, and mental breakdowns, he hadn’t had the mental space for anything outside of his quest. 

_“What, so you’re suddenly_ not _busy now?”_ Leorio scoffed.

“Yes. My agenda is frighteningly open for the foreseeable future.” Years and years ago, his response would have been snippy and argumentative. Kurapika hated how toneless he sounded. His voice sounded like he was already dead.

 _“Holy shit.”_ All the anger and bluster in Leorio’s voice evaporated as he seemed to come to some sort of realization. Probably the right one too.

“What, Leorio?”

_“You did it, didn’t you?”_

Kurapika didn’t even need to ask what _it_ was. He sighed. “Yes. I’m done. They’re all at peace now.”

 _“Except for you.”_ Leorio noted, after a second of pause. He truly knew Kurapika too well after so long.

“Except for me.” Kurapika agreed.

_“What are you going to do now?”_

“I’m going to sleep. After that, I— I’m not sure, really.”

 _“You mean to tell me that the great strategist Kurapika, the one who’s gone up against the likes of The Phantom Troupe and_ lived _, has no plan? None at all?”_ Leorio sounded like he was on the verge of laughter, disbelief heavy in his voice. 

“There were always more important things to do.” And he hadn’t wanted to think about after. The thought of ever finishing his task had been daunting to him, though it was even worse now that he had finally avenged everyone with no satisfaction to show for it.

 _“Bull and shit.”_

“No matter what you want to believe, that's the truth.”

 _“Well, you don't have anything more important to do anymore.”_ Leorio pointed out, voice becoming tinny as the connection started to flare up. Kurapika hoped it’d held out long enough.

“No, I don't.” Kurapika curled up on his side, putting the phone on speaker so he wouldn't have to hold it up to his ear. “Do I just… find a new job?”

 _“You could.”_ Kurapika could practically hear the _or…_

He groaned. “What would you suggest, Leorio?”

 _“You could come see your friends.”_ Kurapika wanted to laugh. Friends? Did he have those anymore? How long did you need to go without talking to somebody for the friendship to be over? No matter the answer, it had to be about a year, and in which case, Kurapika had lost his friends 5 times over. _“Gon really misses you, you know? And Killua would be thrilled to introduce you to his sister.”_

“Killua has a sister?” Kurapika asked instead of responding to Leorio’s actual point.

 _“Yeah, her name’s Alluka, she’s great. Don’t change the subject.”_

Kurapika bit his lip. Of course Leorio would catch that. He never came off that way, but he was incredibly smart. And handsome, and almost certainly a good doctor too, and—. And he was too good for Kurapika. Everyone was, really, but especially Leorio. 

_“Kurapika?”_

“I— yes?”

_“Come see us.”_

“Would that be okay?” Kurapika was whispering now, the tears he thought had long since dried up began to well up. He took in a deep breath to compose himself.

 _“I mean, I think we’d all want a fucking apology first, but yeah. I just invited you, didn’t I? So even if Gon or Killua don’t want to see you — and they_ do _, want to see you, that is —_ I _at least want to see you.”_

Kurapika let out a breath he hadn’t known he’d been holding. “An apology couldn’t possibly make up for how long I’ve ignored you all.” Kurapika protested half-heartedly. If he’d been more awake then maybe he could’ve made his case sound more convincing.

 _“It’s a start.”_ Leorio rebutted, tone nice and calm after he’d gotten the shouting out of the way. _“So? You coming?”_ Kurapika really wanted to say no. He _should_ say no. But another part of him yearned for the warm comfort of one of Leorio’s hugs. He just wanted to be happy. Even though he knew he didn’t deserve it, he wanted to see everyone again. He wanted to do something other than work. Even if it hurt to see everyone again, if he truly had to be alive after his revenge-quest, he should at least apologize. He owed everyone that much and more.

“... Okay. Where should we meet?”

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Hiii!!! Long-time lurker, first time writer (for this particular fandom, that is) please be gentle and I hope you enjoyed!


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